GWU rallies from 19 down to nip UNC-Asheville

Published: Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 09:42 PM.

ASHEVILLE – No one should ever question the resolve of the current Gardner-Webb men’s basketball team.

GWU used a fierce second half rally to erase what had earlier been a 19-point deficit and beat UNC Asheville 67-65 in a key Big South Conference road game Wednesday at Kimmel Arena.

The win by Gardner-Webb (15-11, 7-5 Big South) snapped a 12-game league home win streak for Asheville (15-11, 9-3 Big South). GWU swept the season series versus the other set of Bulldogs for the first time since joining the Big South.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs trailed 27-8 at one point and 34-24 at the break. Asheville made 7-of-8 shots to start the game and shot 56 percent in the opening half.

Gardner-Webb went on an 11-3 run to open the second half to get within 37-35. Asheville would never be ahead more than six points the rest of the way.

GWU’s Tyler Strange made his fourth 3-pointer with 7:00 left to tie it at 54-54. The two teams traded free throws for nearly five minutes before senior Kevin Hartley gave Gardner-Webb its first lead with an offensive putback for a 63-62 edge with 1:57 left.

Donta Harper made a key steal with 55 seconds left to set up the game-winning surge for the Runnin’ Bulldogs.

ASHEVILLE – No one should ever question the resolve of the current Gardner-Webb men’s basketball team.

GWU used a fierce second half rally to erase what had earlier been a 19-point deficit and beat UNC Asheville 67-65 in a key Big South Conference road game Wednesday at Kimmel Arena.

The win by Gardner-Webb (15-11, 7-5 Big South) snapped a 12-game league home win streak for Asheville (15-11, 9-3 Big South). GWU swept the season series versus the other set of Bulldogs for the first time since joining the Big South.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs trailed 27-8 at one point and 34-24 at the break. Asheville made 7-of-8 shots to start the game and shot 56 percent in the opening half.

Gardner-Webb went on an 11-3 run to open the second half to get within 37-35. Asheville would never be ahead more than six points the rest of the way.

GWU’s Tyler Strange made his fourth 3-pointer with 7:00 left to tie it at 54-54. The two teams traded free throws for nearly five minutes before senior Kevin Hartley gave Gardner-Webb its first lead with an offensive putback for a 63-62 edge with 1:57 left.

Donta Harper made a key steal with 55 seconds left to set up the game-winning surge for the Runnin’ Bulldogs.

Jerome Hill tipped in a miss to put Gardner-Webb up 65-63 with 21.8 seconds left. Trent Meyer was fouled with 6.9 seconds left but missed the first of two tries.

Donta Harper was fouled with 3.8 seconds left on the inbounds play, and made both for a 67-64 lead. Meyer then was fouled with 1.3 seconds left – with the call being switched to a shooting foul from 3-point range. Meyer missed the first shot, made the second and was forced to miss the third on purpose. Asheville though couldn’t get the tip as time expired.

Keith Hornsby scored 16 of his 22 points in the opening half for Asheville, which also got 15 points by Jeremy Atkinson.

Harper paced GWU with 16 points and nine rebounds, sinking 6-of-8 from the foul line. Hill finished with 15 points and six boards with Strange being effective with 12 big points, five assists and just two turnovers.